


Asymmetry

by sowell



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-26
Updated: 2013-05-26
Packaged: 2017-12-13 01:34:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/818402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sowell/pseuds/sowell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Naruto teaches Sasuke how to believe again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Asymmetry

**Author's Note:**

> Written for bellicosus for the 2010 sn_exchange on livejournal.

The steps leading down to the basement were damp. Naruto’s toes curled in his sandals, recoiling from the cold stone. He’d only been here once before.  
  
He left his guards at the bottom of the steps, outside the main door. “Stay here,” he ordered. They halted silently. Naruto wished he had Sakura or Sai beside him. Everything was too quiet.  
  
The guards outside Sasuke’s cell snapped to attention when they saw him coming. It was still eerie, how people reacted to him these days. He wasn’t used to the formality. For someone who’d grown up on his own, with no sense of social custom or manner forced on him by parents or guardians, the strict displays of respect felt almost confining.  
  
Sasuke sat perfectly still in the center of his cell, cross-legged on the floor, eyes closed and palms resting on his knees. Naruto could see the outline of his body through the flimsy prison clothes, sharp and graceful. He was thinner than Naruto remembered, but that made sense, given the lack of exercise and the bare prison food. Inky black swirls decorated his temples and hands, sealing away his chakra.  
  
Naruto stood silently until Sasuke’s eyes opened.  
  
Naruto fought the urge to fidget as Sasuke’s eyes swept over him, examining him, looking for weapons, most likely.  
  
“You don’t look guilty, so I assume you’re not here to read me my death sentence,” Sasuke said finally. His eyes were an opaque black.  
  
Naruto’s heart gave a funny little skip. Sasuke’s voice held a tinge of raspiness from disuse, but other than that it was the same – low, flat, faintly arrogant. Naruto watched for anything – a twitch of the fingers, a darting of the eyes,  _any_  sign that Sasuke was curious, or nervous, or even remotely interested in his presence. There was nothing.  
  
“No,” he said after too long a pause. “No.”  
  
“So what?” Sasuke asked, getting smoothly to his feet. They’d hit the same height around age sixteen, and it hadn’t varied since then. They stood level with Kakashi, a head taller than Sakura and Tsunade, miles under where Jiraiya would have stood, had he lived.  
  
Naruto swallowed. “I’m becoming Hokage next week,” he blurted. “It’s happening on Friday.”  
  
Sasuke looked utterly unsurprised. “Congratulations,” he said. “All your dreams came true after all.” Naruto couldn’t tell if he was sarcastic, or bitter, or completely disinterested. Whatever Sasuke was feeling, it wasn’t happiness. Sakura’s whole face had lit up when he told her, and she’d hugged him so tightly he thought his bones might break. Iruka had squeezed his shoulder, and Kakashi had nodded, eyes light under his mask.  
  
Sasuke just looked at him.  
  
“I…I need a favor,” Naruto stumbled on. “From you.”  
  
Sasuke quirked an eyebrow. “Can you arrange my release from prison?”  
  
“No,” Naruto said numbly.  
  
“Then I’m not interested.” Sasuke’s voice was definitely cold now. He turned away, and Naruto clenched his fist.  
  
“You haven’t even heard me,” Naruto said. “I haven’t even told you – ”  
  
“You’re inches away from becoming Hokage,” Sasuke said, back still turned. “Akatsuki is gone, Madara is dead, the fox is sealed safely away. You kept your promise to Sakura and brought me back to the village, and all the gossip says you’re only waiting for your inauguration before you ask Hinata Hyuuga to marry you. I have nothing to give you, Naruto.”  
  
Naruto stared at him, stunned. “How did you know about Hinata?”  
  
Sasuke turned to look at him, expression wry. “The guards get bored and talk,” he said. “You’re one of their favorite topics of conversation.”  
  
Naruto could feel himself flushing.  
  
“If you’re going to ask me to be your best man, the answer is no,” Sasuke said.  
  
“Like I would,” Naruto shot back, but then he saw the barest quirk of Sasuke’s lips. Kidding, Sasuke was just kidding. It was times like these that Naruto ached for the days of Team 7. It had been too long since he’d had a best friend.  
  
“It’s..it’s nothing like that,” Naruto said. “It’s…political.”  
  
The hint of levity went out of Sasuke’s face. “Then I’m definitely not interested,” he said. “Now get out of here.”  
  
Only Sasuke could order him out of a prison cell like it was the fanciest mansion in Konoha.  
  
“Listen,” Naruto said. “When Tsunade became Hokage, do you remember signing the inauguration declaration?”  
  
“No,” Sasuke said shortly. “But I’d just woken up from a coma, so everything’s a little fuzzy.”  
  
“Well you did,” Naruto pushed on impatiently. “Just like your father signed the Fourth’s papers and your grandfather signed the Third’s. It dates back all the way to the first Hokage, when Madara signed for the Uchiha clan. All the clan heads put their name on the declaration. It’s like a pact, between the Hokage and the villagers.”  
  
“You came to see me for the first time in two years to give me a history lesson?” Sasuke asked in disbelief.  
  
It was the second time, Naruto thought silently, but it wasn’t surprising that Sasuke didn’t remember the first.  
  
“No,” Naruto said. “I came to ask you to sign my papers.”  
  
Sasuke went very still. “I didn’t think that prisoners of war had any political rights.”  
  
“They don’t,” Naruto said quietly. “This is a special case. There’s only one Uchiha left to sign.”  
  
Sasuke looked at him for a very long time. Then he turned his back again. “Forget it,” he said in a low voice. “I told you before – Konoha betrayed the Uchiha clan. I’m not interested in any pacts.”  
  
Naruto took a deep breath and swallowed fifteen years worth of competition and rivalry. “Please,” he said. “It would mean a lot to me.”  
  
Sasuke swung around, gaze focused. “Come here,” he ordered. Naruto moved forward like he was being pulled by some invisible string. He would suspect the Sharingan, except that he knew Sasuke’s eyes had been too thoroughly sealed for Sasuke to ever break through again. He stopped when he was right up against the bars, palms pressed forward.  
  
Sasuke studied him with sharp eyes. “I tried to kill you so many times,” he said. “What do you think will change by me putting my name on a piece of paper?”  
  
“You saved me two years ago,” Naruto said hoarsely. “That counts for something.”  
  
“And look where it got me.” Sasuke’s voice was definitely bitter now. “My answer is no.”  
  
Naruto’s fingers clenched into a fist. “I can help you,” he said, frustrated. “When I’m Hokage, I can make things more comfortable for you. I can get you scrolls, or training supplies. I could…” He stopped himself with effort. He took a deep breath, then continued.  
  
“The council wants to offer you a deal. If you sign this, if you legally align Uchiha with Konoha again, then...then the council will allow you revive your clan.”  
  
“ _Allow_  me,” Sasuke repeated flatly.  
  
“They'll provide a wife,” Naruto said with effort. “Someone to carry your children. As long as those children are shinobi of Konoha.”  
  
Sasuke's eyes were narrowed. “And why would I want to help out Konoha?”  
  
Naruto swallowed. He had no answer.  
  
Sasuke's mouth tightened. “What if I refuse?”  
  
Naruto heart plummeted. “Then you stay here, until they find a reason to kill you.”  
  
“Who says they won’t kill me anyway?”  
  
“I won’t let that happen,” Naruto said urgently. “I’ll get you out before then.”  
  
A muscle ticked in Sasuke's jaw. “Who, exactly, am I supposed to marry?” he asked through clenched teeth.  
  
“Anyone,” Naruto replied quickly. “Anyone you want.”  
  
“Anyone,” Sasuke said. Naruto could see the wheels starting to turn in Sasuke's brain.  
  
“Sakura's taken,” Naruto said hastily. “She married Lee last year, so you can't.”  
  
“I don't want Sakura,” Sasuke said.  
  
“Then who?” For some reason, Naruto's sense of dread didn't abate.  
  
“If I do this,” Sasuke said, his eyes strangely empty, “then the deal stands, no matter who I choose?”  
  
“…Yes.”  
  
“Then I choose Hinata,” Sasuke said. “Hinata Hyuuga.”  
  
*  
  
“And?” Tsunade asked expectantly. It was odd that she still looked twenty-five. When she retired, she’d take her place next to the other elders of the village.  
  
Naruto couldn’t look her in the eye. “He’ll be there,” he said.  
  
*  
  
Sasuke signed the inauguration papers and the marriage papers at the same time, Hinata standing quietly by his side. Neji stood next to his cousin, glaring icily at Naruto and looking for all the world like he'd take a kunai to the heart of the first person to touch Hinata.  
  
Tsunade was infuriatingly serene as she said the words to transfer authority to Naruto. Sakura looked worriedly between Sasuke, Hinata, and Naruto. Naruto tried to smile for her, but the day he'd dreamed of his entire life was weighted down by guilt and fury.  
  
“I'm sorry,” he'd said to Hinata a week ago, on his knees. “If there was another way...” She'd smiled down at him, heartbreakingly sweet and strong.  
  
“It's all right,” she'd said. “I've always wanted to be of use. Now I can be.”  
  
Naruto had swallowed the lump in his throat and left.  
  
*  
  
Sasuke's first child was born one year after Naruto became Hokage. Despite Neji's anger, Hinata's father had given her away with barely a protest, easily shifting Hanabi into the role of Hyuuga heir.  
  
“Uchiha and Hyuuga are descended from the same bloodline,” Sakura had explained to him in a hushed voice. “Sasuke wants her because it makes it more likely that the baby will inherit the Sharingan.”  
  
“What if the baby has the Byakugan instead?” Naruto had asked.  
  
Sakura shrugged. “Then Sasuke will keep trying, I guess.” Naruto felt sick.  
  
“It's okay if you're mad at him,” Sakura said softly. “ _I'm_  mad at him, and he didn't even steal my girlfriend.”  
  
Naruto considered telling her that he was furious – murderous, heartsick, betrayed, confused. He considered explaining that none of that mattered, and it never had. Sasuke was a bastard through-and-through. He was a traitor, an arrogant sonofabitch, a murderer, and crazy to boot, and Naruto still couldn't shake the conviction that he was worth almost any sacrifice.  
  
Instead, he smiled at her. “It will be all right,” he said, and tried to convince himself he was telling the truth.  
  
When Sasuke's son was born, his eyes were black as night.  
  
Naruto christened the child as part of his duties, and Hinata named him Yoshirou. She insisted that it was her idea, but Naruto could see Sasuke's influence, through and through. Only an Uchiha would come up with such a pompous name.  
  
Sasuke wasn't allowed to attend, but Naruto gave a detailed run-down of the ceremony to Sasuke's stony face.  
  
“Don't you have genin you can send to chatter at me?” Sasuke asked when Naruto was through.  
  
“Aren't you interested in your own child?” Naruto said, aghast.  
  
“What I'm interested in, is being free.” Sasuke's face was impassive, but there was a hint of emotion behind his gaze, a frenzied sort of impatience.  
  
“I'm trying,” Naruto said. “Believe me, I'm trying.”  
  
“Don't come visit me again unless you have something important to say,” Sasuke said, turning his back.  
  
Naruto came back anyway, often twice a day. Sometimes Sasuke refused to say a word. Sometimes he insulted Naruto freely and without restraint for hours on end. Every once in a while, they actually had a conversation.  
  
“He's amazing,” Naruto couldn't help but tell him. “Your son is... I wish you could see him.”  
  
Sasuke didn't answer.  
  
Every month, Naruto appealed to the council for a review of Sasuke's case. Every month he was turned down.  
  
“It's too soon,” Tsunade told him. “Sasuke left a scar on this village. It will take a while before it heals.”  
  
“He fought for the right side, in the end,” Naruto said, frustrated. “Isn't that enough?”  
  
“For you, maybe,” Tsunade said. “But you've never seen clearly where Sasuke Uchiha is concerned.”  
  
“I'm the Hokage,” Naruto tried.  
  
“And you have to accept that you can't control everything,” Tsunade retorted. “You may be the leader in name, but the council still holds a lot of power. You have to act carefully.”  
  
“Stupid old farts,” Naruto muttered under his breath.  
  
“You work on protecting the village,” Tsunade said. “Sasuke can wait.”  
  
*  
  
Once a week, Naruto visited Hinata. He told himself it was to see how she was faring in her forced marriage, but he always found himself watching Yoshirou instead. Naruto was convinced the kid was a prodigy, even though Sakura assured him that learning to crawl at six months wasn't all that unusual a feat.  
  
“We should race him against Sakura and Lee's kid,” he told Hinata. “Like, dangle a cookie in front of them and see who crawls to it the fastest. I bet Yoshi would kick ass.”  
  
Hinata just smiled. Sometimes, before his brain could stop him, Naruto imagined her and Sasuke together, what it must have looked like with their black hair tangled, eyes closed, bodies moving....  
  
He flushed, and tore his eyes away from her.  
  
“I'm okay, Naruto,” Hinata said suddenly.  
  
Naruto looked at her quizzically.  
  
“I'm...” she paused, “I'm not unhappy. So I don't want you to worry.”  
  
Naruto studied his own hands, huge and tanned on Yoshirou's head. “Sasuke treats you well?” Naruto asked quietly. “I mean, as well as he treats anyone?”  
  
There was a funny smile on Hinata's face as she shrugged. “I don't know him. But I don't hate him, and I don't think he hates me. I love our son.”  
  
Which, Naruto supposed, was more reassurance than he had any right to.  
  
*  
  
A month after Yoshirou's first birthday, Naruto ran into Hinata as he was entering the main doors to the prison. There was talk, Naruto knew, about how often the Hokage went to visit Sasuke Uchiha, and about how seldom his wife was seen there.  
  
Hinata's cheeks were flushed, and her silky hair was tangled. She looked oddly rumpled, when Hinata never did. She gave him a brief greeting and hurried past, face lowered. Sasuke's scent clung to her.  
  
Sasuke was in one of his brooding moods, which meant he was about as pleasant as always.  
  
Naruto searched for signs of guilt or discomfort as he chattered away about Yoshirou and the weather and anything that came to mind. Sasuke looked as cool as always. There was nothing to indicate what he and Hinata had just been doing. He was leaning his head back against the stone wall, eyes half-lidded. Anyone looking at him would have thought he was scarcely paying attention, but Naruto knew him too well. His long fingers drummed a pattern against his thigh, all impatience and leashed power.  
  
“You're the Hokage,” Sasuke finally snapped. “Don't you do anything besides spend time with my wife and son?”  
  
“I thought you'd want someone watching out for them,” Naruto said stiffly.  
  
“I doubt you'd be as concerned if I was married to someone besides your ex-girlfriend.” His voice was irritable.  
  
Naruto brows snapped together. “How did you become the victim here?”  
  
“I’m being used for my sperm,” Sasuke said darkly. “And I’m still in jail.”  
  
“I  _told_  you,” Naruto said, frustrated. “I’m trying.”  
  
“So you've said,” Sasuke sneered. “The Hokage isn’t anything except a figurehead, is it? The council has all the power, and they always have.”  
  
“Hey!” Naruto said heatedly. “Take that back, you bast – ”  
  
It happened faster than Naruto could process. One moment he was sitting cross-legged on the safe side of the bars, the next Sasuke's hand was around his throat, straddling the two sides of his cell as though the solid iron bars were nothing but air.  
  
“Wha?” Naruto managed, before Sasuke's fingers cut off his air supply altogether.  
  
“You've promising to get me out for a year,” Sasuke said, very calmly. “I don’t believe you anymore.”  
  
Naruto clawed at the pressure on his windpipe, his vision beginning to go white at the edges. Sasuke was levered over him, knees pinning his thighs to the cold floor. Someone who’d been in prison for so long shouldn’t be so strong, Naruto thought dimly. Or feel so strangely warm. The cheap cotton of Sasuke’s sleeve chafed against Naruto’s cheek.  
  
“The third tried to protect Itachi, too” Sasuke continued, “and it didn’t work. Why should you be any different?”  
  
Sasuke’s eyes were burning, two points of coal between the jagged frame of his hair. His face was smooth and blank, and Naruto vaguely wondered what would happen if he reached up and touched Sasuke’s mouth the way he wanted to.  
  
Her didn’t have long to wonder. His ANBU guard was there in seconds, slamming Sasuke to the floor.  
  
“I’m fine,” Naruto rasped, pulling himself into a sitting position. Sasuke was already relaxing back into the grip of the prison guard, half-conscious from the sedative they’d injected him with.  
  
“The bars were an illusion,” he continued, struggling to his feet. Everything was still spinning. “Sasuke must have destroyed the real ones at some point and replaced them.”  
  
Sai removed his mask, face pale and blank underneath. “He’s figured out a way to get around the seals.”  
  
“Then we’ll have to make them stronger,” Naruto said grimly. Sasuke was out, dark head lolling forward. Naruto swore, long and low under his breath. “No one hears about this,” he warned. “Not yet.”  
  
“You’re very stupid for a Hokage,” Sai said, and shifted his mask back into place.  
  
*  
  
Nine months later, Hinata had a daughter.  
  
“Now?” Naruto asked.  
  
“Not yet,” Tsunade said.  
  
*  
  
Naruto had always dreamed too much about Sasuke – endless nightmares of chasing him, killing him, being killed by him. Every once in a while, grunts of pain would turn into moans of something else entirely, and Naruto would wake up with a raging hard-on, Sasuke's dark eyes permanently implanted in his brain. Now, it seemed those dreams came every night.  
  
Watching Sasuke's children was a unique kind of torture. At two years old, Yoshirou could hold a kunai; at three he could hit the center of the practice mark nearly every time. He looked up at Naruto with a solemn kind of wonder in his eyes, and Naruto remembered a time when he yearned for that exact look from Sasuke.  
  
“Don't hold him back,” Naruto warned Iruka, “but don't push him either. I don't want another Itachi.”  
  
“Relax,” Iruka told him. “Remember, he's half-Hinata, too.”  
  
“Right,” Naruto grumbled. “Like the Hyuugas aren't crazy.”  
  
“Naruto,” Iruka laughed. “Stop worrying about Sasuke's kids and think about having some of your own.”  
  
He didn't tell Iruka that he was pretty sure Sasuke had ruined him for life.  
  
*  
  
Konoha under Naruto’s protection was as safe a place as a village of warriors could be. There were always new threats, though: assassins, missing nin, rebel groups attempting to pick up where Akatsuki left off. Usually, the threats were neutralized long before they reached the outer gates.  
  
Sometimes, they weren't.  
  
The alarm woke Naruto, clanging out from the peak of the Hokage's tower. Naruto was ready and armed before Shikamaru even reached his door.  
  
“Damages?” he demanded as they raced across the rooftops.  
  
“The north quarter,” Shikamaru said, his lazy voice sharp with tension. “They're moving through all the political buildings. Naruto – I think they're going for Sasuke.”  
  
The building shielding Sasuke's underground prison was obliterated by the time Naruto got there. He could see the fighting from his perch on the rooftops. The intruders were in purple, their forehead protectors marked with the music note of Sound.  
  
When Sasuke had killed Orochimaru, he'd left behind a fledgling nation of the Sannin's followers. It was no surprise they were trying to break Sasuke out of prison; aside from Orochimaru, Sasuke was the only leader they'd ever known.  
  
Shikamaru looked to him for orders.  
  
“Stay and help,” Naruto said. “I'm going after Sasuke.”  
  
He could feel the blood pounding in his ears in time with his footsteps. He'd never been as quick as Sasuke. If Sasuke wanted to, he could be halfway to Sound before Naruto even reached the outskirts of Konoha. Somehow, though, Naruto knew he was still there.  
  
Naruto felt him before he saw him. It wasn't until he halted that he realized where he was standing. The bridge leading out of the city had scarcely changed in ten years. In another lifetime, Sasuke had left Sakura there on a cold stone bench and promptly disappeared.  
  
Naruto ground his teeth. Not this time.  
  
“Sasuke,” he yelled. “Where are you?”  
  
Only a ninja would have heard the light tap as Sasuke dropped down beside him. Naruto looked at Sasuke's set features, his stubbornly planted feet.  
  
“I won't let you,” Naruto said.  
  
“Why? There's no reason for me to stay.” Sasuke's voice was calm, but there was something uncertain in his dark gaze.  
  
“Your children?” Naruto reminded him forcefully. “Your wife?”  
  
“Not my decisions.”  
  
“Your friends?”  
  
“You and Sakura have been a pain in my ass since I was twelve. Try again.”  
  
Naruto shook his head. “Do you want to be hunted your entire life? Because that's what will happen if you leave now.”  
  
“Better than being in prison.”  
  
“You won't be forever.”  
  
Sasuke's jaw was tight, and his fingers were curled into his sleeves.  _How unlike Sasuke_ , Naruto thought,  _to give anything anyway_.  
  
“You disappeared for two years after I came back,” Sasuke bit out. “Why should I trust you now?”  
  
Naruto stared at him. Sasuke's cheeks were flushed. His chest was heaving, and lips were pressed together, and Naruto finally understood a little of Sasuke's reticence, a tiny fragment of his distrust.  
  
“Sasuke,” he said incredulously. “I didn't disappear, I was  _banned._ ”  
  
“What?” Sasuke said sharply.  
  
“When I came to see you the first time, they had you on so many drugs that you could barely move. When I saw you like that, I almost tore the place down. Tsunade forbid me from visiting after that. That's why I didn't come for two years.”  
  
“That's...ridiculous,” Sasuke said slowly, and Naruto grinned.  
  
“Well,” he said. “No more ridiculous than you switching sides at the last minute. Showoff.”  
  
It was odd how such a bloody memory could make warmth spread through his whole body. Naruto had been barely conscious; he'd used all his chakra luring Madara away from the village. All he'd been able to make out was the fuzzy shape of Sasuke above him. Protecting him, when they hadn't protected each other in years. He hadn't fully realized what had happened until he'd woken up in the hospital, days later. Madara was dead at that point, Sasuke half-dead and incarcerated. And Naruto hadn't been able to do a thing about it.  
  
“Why did you do it?” Naruto asked curiously. “I never got a chance to ask you.”  
  
Sasuke's eyes were far away. It was strange how Sasuke looked noble all the time, Naruto thought absently. In prison garb, covered in blood, standing tall with sword in hand, or studying his son's face with a bemused expression. It didn't matter. Naruto always looked rumpled to himself, even in full ceremonial regalia. It was one of the many things he'd envied about Sasuke when they were genin. Now it was just fascinating.  
  
“Who knows,” Sasuke said finally. “It was a stupid thing to do.”  
  
Sasuke looked very tall standing across from him. There were mere feet between them, but it felt like an endless chasm. Sasuke's pale face was a stark outline against the stars, smooth and white. Naruto looked at the slope of his cheek bones, the curve of his unsmiling mouth, the too-long hair touching his jaw. There had been more antagonism than friendship between them in the last ten years, but if he left again Naruto wasn't sure what he'd do.  
  
He swallowed. “I don't suppose you'd consider staying for me, then.” He tried to keep his voice light, but it didn't quite work. Sasuke's eyes snapped to his, sharp and unblinking.  
  
Naruto waited, not breathing.  
  
“I don't know,” Sasuke said softly. “Convince me. Make me a promise.”  
  
Naruto's pulse skittered. He didn't know if he was being taunted. He wasn't even sure if Sasuke knew. He didn't care.  
  
“I - ” he choked off as searing pain sliced across his back.  
  
Everything happened very fast after that. The pain radiated from his shoulders all the way around to his stomach, and Naruto vaguely realized he'd been pierced through in three places. There was suddenly a swarm of purple sashes around him, moving in a blur.  
  
Naruto grimaced, directing chakra to one hand as he yanked a razor thin blade out of his stomach with the other. The pain was blinding, and he swayed. His fingers were slippery with blood.  
  
Sasuke was his first coherent thought, followed by trap. Sasuke had set a trap for him. The rage and betrayal that coursed through him was worse than the pain.  
  
And that's when he realized that Sasuke was battling as fiercely as he was, only a few steps away. Relief set in, followed by annoyance. Damn it, he was supposed to protect his village from the most terrible of threats, not die like an idiot in some amateur sneak attack.  
  
“Don't you dare pass out,” he heard Sasuke shout, and that was the last thing he remembered before darkness swept in.  
  
*  
  
Sakura’s face was the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes. She was framed by bright lights and a blank white background. He’d been in the hospital enough times to recognize it by now, even in pain and half-conscious.  
  
“Sasuke?” he croaked.  
  
“Fine.” Sakura beamed. “Locked up safe and sound.”  
  
“What…happened…”  
  
“According to him, you fainted at the sight of your own blood and left him to fend off twenty enemies by himself.”  
  
Naruto tried to swallow, but his tongue was so dry that it jammed against the roof of his mouth. “Not…twenty,” he protested weakly. “Five…maybe.”  
  
“Either way,” Sakura said, “there were a lot of dead bodies waiting for the ANBU.”  
  
“Did he…”  
  
“Carry you back?” Sakura chirped. “Yup. Lee almost cried, he was so touched.”  
  
Naruto wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out again. Well, maybe for ramen once in a while.  
  
“Naruto,” Sakura touched his bandaged arm. “I don’t know how you did it, but…he didn’t run. Thank you.”  
  
Sakura’s gratitude had always had a way of making everything all right.  
  
“Damn it,” Naruto rasped. “Now I have to say thank you.”  
  
*  
  
It wasn’t so hard in the end, even if Sasuke did stare at him broodingly and completely ignore the proffered handshake.  
  
“I didn’t do it for you,” Sasuke said. Naruto noticed the way his eyes kept roving across the still-present bandages, like he was picturing the spikes shoved through flesh all over again.  
  
“Fine,” Naruto said, stung in spite of himself. “It’s not like it makes up for all the times you tried to kill me, anyway.”  
  
There was an awkward moment of silence, and Naruto scratched the back of his head. “I don't suppose this means you’ve finally admitted you belong in Konoha?”  
  
“It means I have a son now,” Sasuke said. “And I don’t trust Kakashi to teach him how to use the Sharingan.”  
  
“He’d probably turn him into a pervert anyway,” Naruto agreed.  
  
Sasuke was silent again, and and Naruto realized anew that Sasuke wasn’t going anywhere.  _Sasuke had stayed._  They’d have time to talk later. Years, even. He turned to leave, his footsteps light.  
  
A hard hand grabbed his wrist and yanked him back. Naruto barely avoided smashing face-first into the bars. He was about to jerk away and ask Sasuke what the hell he thought he was doing when a pair of warm lips brushed against his.  
  
He sucked in a breath. Sasuke was staring at him calmly, like he hadn’t just done something bizarre and unfathomable and wonderful.  
  
Naruto pressed a little closer, slow and cautious, and Sasuke kissed him again, lips parted.  
  
Naruto slammed against the bars, reaching a hand in to hook around the back of Sasuke’s head. They kissed as deeply as the bars would let them, rough and off-balance and electrifying. Naruto was the one who finally broke away, panting like he’d been training for hours.  
  
Sasuke’s eyes were shadowed with arousal, and Naruto shuddered.  
  
“I promise,” he breathed, answering Sasuke’s question from days ago. “I’ll get you out of here. Wait for me.”  
  
*  
  
“How much longer?” he asked Tsunade. Saving Naruto had gone a long way in restoring the villagers’ faith in Sasuke, but the council stubbornly held out.  
  
“Have patience,” she said. “Not yet.”  
  
*  
  
Yoshirou turned six, and still no Sharingan.  
  
“Give it time, “ Kakashi said good-naturedly. “Sasuke didn’t develop it until he was thirteen. Neither did Obito.”  
  
“Itachi had it at five,” Tsunade said grimly.  
  
“What if it never happens?” Sakura fretted.  
  
 _Then Sasuke will keep trying_. Sakura’s words from so many years ago slammed into Naruto with renewed impact. He didn’t want that for anyone: not Sasuke, not Hinata, and definitely not himself.  
  
“Can’t we  _do_  something?” Naruto heard the panicky tone to his own voice.  
  
“Some things take patience, not force,” Kakashi said. “It’s too soon to tell.”  
  
Naruto thought that if he had to wait another seven years to find out, he’d go insane.  
  
Once a week, Hinata took Sasuke’s children to see him in prison. Sasuke had argued that they shouldn’t see their father locked up, but for once Hinata had stood firm. It was the only time Naruto saw the two of them together, which made him secretly, guiltily relieved. The guilt was compounded by the fact that Neji had been seen around his cousin more and more often in the last few years. Naruto wouldn’t be surprised if Hinata’s next child was born with the Byakugan and Neji's unfathomable stare.  
  
As a best friend and teammate, Naruto figured he should have at least given Neji a black eye by now. As the Hokage who had failed to prevent the whole mess, he should have tried to mediate the affair. As the twenty-five-year-old who spent half his lunch breaks making out with a convicted traitor and every night jerking off to the memory of said traitor’s face, he decided not to meddle.  
  
At the beginning, Naruto had avoided Hinata’s visitation days. It was a ‘family affair’, as Sakura had delicately put it. Lately, though, Sasuke had begun to invite him. It was endlessly fascinating to watch Sasuke watch his children, pride and awkwardness and stiff reluctance warring in his eyes and voice. Naruto usually spent the time poking fun at Sasuke’s hair, which made Sasuke scowl, Hinata smile behind her hand, and Yoshirou laugh so hard he fell over.  
  
“It’s taking too long,” Sasuke said, frustrated.  
  
“Wait,” Naruto said. “A little longer. Just wait.”  
  
*  
  
Sasuke raised his head when Naruto unlocked the door to his cell. His face was very pale against the stone walls.  
  
“Naruto?” he asked sleepily. “What’s wrong?”  
  
“Nothing,” Naruto said. “I have a birthday present for you.”  
  
*  
  
Sasuke stood still for a long time when they hit the night air. Naruto watched as the wind tossed his hair across his face, as deep a black as the dark sky. It had been years since he'd been outside.  
  
Sasuke was never meant to be locked away. He looked a little more dangerous than usual outlined against the sky; his eyes were glittering in a way Naruto hadn’t seen in a long time. There were lines on both of their faces that hadn't been there five years ago, but Sasuke hadn't looked so much like  _Sasuke_  since he left the village when they were thirteen.  
  
“I didn't think you'd trust me not to run,” Sasuke said.  
  
“It’s your birthday,” Naruto offered lamely. “I thought you might want to go home.”  
  
They used the rooftops to make the long journey from the prison to the center of Konoha. The Uchiha compound had been gutted and rebuilt when Hinata moved in. The bloodstains were gone from the doors, and the shredded houses had been torn down. There was no physical sign of the damage that Itachi had caused, but the place still made Naruto uneasy. This was where Sasuke had been damaged; this was the place that had made Sasuke into a criminal, and Naruto hated it.  
  
Sasuke, however, had insisted that his children grow up there, and Naruto couldn’t argue.  
  
The Hokage’s robes fluttered around him as he landed softly on Hinata’s roof. The whole house was dark and silent.  
  
“If you’re caught, we’re both screwed,” Naruto whispered. “So don’t get caught.”  
  
“Who do you think I am?” Sasuke asked. The low vibration of his voice against Naruto’s ear sent a shiver through his body.  
  
“Just…just be quick,” Naruto said, flustered. “I’ll wait outside.”  
  
Sasuke grasped his shoulder before he turned away. “Come with me,” he said. “If Hinata wakes up, you’ll need to explain that this was your insane idea.”  
  
“But – ”  
  
“Don’t argue,” Sasuke said in exasperated voice. “Just hurry up.”  
  
Yoshirou didn’t stir when they pushed his door open. His thin chest rose and fell evenly, long eyelashes fluttering against his cheeks. He was five now, and beginning to look more like Sasuke every day. Naruto had seen him during training exercises, as fierce and quick as Sasuke had been. Iruka didn’t think they’d be able to keep him from graduating for much longer.  
  
Sasuke watched his son sleep for a long time. He didn’t make a move to wake him; he just studied him, kneeling by the bedside. Naruto wished he knew what Sasuke was thinking.  
  
“I told you,” Naruto finally whispered. “He's like you, but with better hair.”  
  
Sasuke didn't rise to the bait. He stood without a sound, moving into the hallway before Naruto had the chance to ask what he was doing. By the time Naruto caught up, Sasuke was already turning the corner into Hinata's room like he’d been there a thousand times before.  
  
Ami was pressed up against her mother, hugging a stuffed bear to her chest. Both of them were fast asleep. Where Yoshirou was a mix of both his parents, Ami was Hinata through-and-through. The only thing she was missing was the Byakugan. Like Yoshirou, her eyes were pure Uchiha black.  
  
Hinata was curled gracefully around her daughter. Naruto took in the whiteness of her skin, the protective curve of her arm. They made a breathtaking picture, and when Sasuke gently touched his daughter's hair, Naruto felt a hard knot rise in his throat. Sasuke was a prisoner, and Hinata had been forced into a marriage she didn't want, but in that moment they were perfect. Naruto's stomach was twisting in a way he hadn't felt since his academy days, that unforgettable sense of  _outsidership_  sweeping over him suddenly and mercilessly.  
  
He turned and left without a word.  
  
He was still sucking in air when Sasuke joined him on the roof minutes later. Sasuke tilted his head toward the forest, and Naruto followed blindly.  
  
They ended up on Team 7's original training ground, just feet from Konoha's monument. One of Naruto's first acts as Hokage had been to add Itachi's name to the long list of fallen Uchiha. Sasuke traced it now, fingers trailing absently across the names of his dead family members.  
  
“Your children are...” Naruto began, then stopped. He wanted to say 'beautiful,' but that seemed too girly. He wanted to explain that he saw everything in Sasuke's children that Sasuke would have and should have been, but he thought that might make Sasuke angry. Sasuke looked at him, one eyebrow raised, waiting.  
  
“Definitely Uchihas,” Naruto finished.   
  
“Of course,” Sasuke said, and Naruto heard the tint of pride there.  
  
Naruto looked up. The sky was still pitch black, which meant they had hours before the guards would snap out of the genjutsu he'd used on them. When he looked at Sasuke again, Sasuke had stripped down to his loose-fitting pants. His feet were bare.  
  
Naruto's mouth went dry. “What are you doing?”  
  
Sasuke tossed a look over his shoulder. “Isn't this why you let me out?”  
  
“No! I thought you might want to see your family on your birthday, that's all.”  
  
Sasuke raised his eyebrows. “Do you really want to waste this chance?”  
  
“You haven't trained in years,” Naruto said reluctantly. “And your chakra is sealed...” Sasuke's lips were curled into a ghost of a smirk. Naruto felt his gut tighten, his body begin to heat up. It had been so long since he'd felt that urge to battle, felt his muscles rise to the hint of challenge.  
  
“You haven't gotten soft, sitting behind the Hokage's desk, have you?” Sasuke taunted.  
  
“No ninjutsu,” Naruto warned, letting his robes drop to the ground. “And nothing above the neck. Sakura almost killed me last time I got a concussion.”  
  
“Whatever,” Sasuke said, and struck.  
  
Shit, Sasuke was fast, Naruto thought painfully. He'd forgotten how fast. He took a kick to the ribs and a hard fist on his shoulder before he managed to move away.  
  
“You're such an asshole,” Naruto complained, rubbing his sore stomach. “Can't you even wait until I say go?”  
  
“Real enemies don't play fair,” Sasuke said impatiently.”Have all these years being protected by the ANBU made you forget that?”  
  
Naruto solidly blocked Sasuke's next attack, and had the satisfaction of watching him stumble backward. “No,” Naruto said coldly. “You taught me that lesson well enough that I won't ever forget.”  
  
Sasuke was rough around the edges, his technique sloppier than Naruto had ever seen it. But no amount of down time could take the shinobi out of someone like Sasuke. Chakra or not, Sharingan or not, Sasuke was smarter and tougher than anyone Naruto had ever fought. It ran through his blood, just like the fire in his movements, the natural grace of his speed. Sasuke's eyes flashed every time his flesh met Naruto's, triumph and bloodlust and caged energy wrapped up in every strike.  
  
They fought until they were both dripping with sweat, covered in bruises and cuts, feet stained brown as the forest floor. Light was creeping up over the river when Naruto finally slammed Sasuke into a tree hard enough to knock the wind out of him. Sasuke slid down to the grass in a heap, chest heaving, eyes closed.  
  
“Hey,” Naruto panted, dropping down to his knees beside him. “Are you quitting?” Sasuke didn't respond, and Naruto slid a hand under his sweaty head, feeling for a lump or gash. In a split second Sasuke had him by the wrist, flipping them both over. Naruto's head hit the ground with dizzying force.  
  
“Asshole,” he mumbled, waiting for his vision to clear. “You broke concussion rule.”  
  
Sasuke's face leaned over him, blocking out the gathering light. “Your rule,” Sasuke said. “Not mine.”  
  
Naruto opened his mouth to respond, but Sasuke covered his lips with his own, rough and open. Naruto let himself be kissed, drifting on the edge of semi-consciousness, until Sasuke's lips dragged down further, tongue dancing across his throat, fingers pressing against his battered chest.  
  
Naruto lifted his hips as Sasuke tugged his pants down. It felt like a thousand degrees in the clearing; the shadows and weak morning sun barely touching their little cocoon of blood and sex and heat. Sasuke's erection pressed against his stomach, and Naruto arched up, aching.  
  
“How many times?” he couldn’t help asking as Sasuke pressed a finger into him. It hurt, and he shuddered. “How many times did you have sex with Hinata?”  
  
“Idiot,” Sasuke grunted. “Don't talk.”  
  
“Tell me,” Naruto demanded in gasping voice. “I want to know.” He couldn’t stop thinking about the two of them, about the ways Sasuke had looked by her bedside.  
  
Sasuke wrapped five fingers around Naruto's cock and pulled. Naruto couldn't hold back his choked cry, pressing his face into the hollows of Sasuke's neck.  
  
Sasuke inserted another finger and stretched. “How many times were you?” Sasuke returned fiercely, and Naruto saw the anger behind his black gaze. “You would have married her.”  
  
“Hinata...wouldn't do that...to you.” He felt Sasuke tipping him forward, hard hands on his thighs. Naruto pressed his forehead to the ground, his body a pulsing mass of pain and pleasure.  
  
“Would you?” Sasuke asked, and Naruto was sorry he'd started this conversation.  
  
“The children are yours – that's all that matters, right?” If he sounded a little bitter, Naruto figured he was entitled to it.  
  
Sasuke didn't answer. His fingers were replaced by his thumbs a moment later, and then he entered in one hard push. Naruto felt his whole body spasm from the intrusion, the relief of friction and the burning pain all twisting up together. Sasuke stroked as he thrust, and when Naruto came a moment later, he felt Sasuke right with him.  
  
*  
  
They spent several minutes washing in the freezing river, then dressed in silence.  
  
“The guards will want to know how my hair got wet,” Sasuke pointed out.  
  
Naruto used his Rasengan to dry it, which left Sasuke scowling and trying to push the tangled strands back into place.  
  
Naruto grabbed his shoulder before they crossed the bridge back to the center of the village. Sasuke felt chilly under his hands, in stark contrast to the heat they'd just shared.  
  
“I've never slept with Hinata,” Naruto said. Sasuke looked away.  
  
“Like I care,” Sasuke said, but Naruto felt all the tension go out of his body.  
  
“You won't be in prison forever. You believe me, don't you?” Naruto wasn't sure exactly which piece of information he was asking about, but he knew it was important.  
  
Sasuke's eyes searched his for a long time. “Whatever,” he said finally, but behind his flat tone Naruto heard I believe you.  
  
*  
  
Naruto knew, before Kakashi even said a word. His posture was typically nonchalant, but his visible eye was sharp with tension.  
  
“When?” he asked.  
  
“Today in school, halfway through taijutsu lessons. Iruka said some of the other students were asking questions.”  
  
“Good,” Naruto said. “Then we’ll have to move fast.”  
  
*  
  
The seal they used for Yoshirou’s eyes looked too much like Sasuke’s; Naruto hated it. Yoshirou sat unnaturally still as Tsunade traced delicate lines on his temples. Any other six-year-old boy would have been climbing the walls, but Yoshirou had inherited a unique stillness from both his parents.  
  
“Don’t worry,” Sakura said with a reassuring smile. Hinata was in the corner, wringing her hands. “If it hurts too much, just bite down on the cloth.”  
  
“Ready?” Tsunade asked tersely. Kakashi and Naruto were crouched on either side of her, at the ready in case anything went wrong.  
  
“Be brave, for your dad,” Naruto said. “So he can come home.” Yoshirou swallowed, then nodded. His eyes were like Sasuke’s – too old for his age.  
  
“Okay,” Sakura said, hands moving gracefully into position. “Here we go.”  
  
*  
  
“This is treason,” the old woman said stiffly.  
  
“No, it’s justice,” Naruto retorted. “He’s served his time. He’s done everything you asked, and more.”  
  
There were four elders on the village council, plus Tsunade, who stood at his side. Yoshirou stood between them, silent. The ink on his temples sealed away his Sharingan from everyone except Kakashi and Sasuke. Tsunade and Sakura had been brilliant in their planning; only another Sharingan user could unlock the seal.  
  
“He’s right,” Tsunade said. “It’s time to let this grudge go, or else the Sharingan will die out with Sasuke Uchiha.”  
  
Naruto handed them the official scroll Sakura had drawn up. It stipulated Sasuke’s release and return to mission status, albeit at the genin level. In return, he’d unlock his son’s seal. Naruto had been half-afraid that Sasuke would refuse the plan, unwilling to participate in Konoha’s manipulation of even one more Uchiha.  
  
He’d studied the written contract for a long time, then calmly raised his eyes to Naruto. “Be careful,” he’d said. “If it doesn’t work, don’t force it. I’d rather stay in here than…”  
  
“Lose the Sharingan?” Naruto asked, eyebrows raised.  
  
“Harm my son,” Sasuke finished, and that’s how Naruto knew he was going to be all right.  
  
When the last council member had finished signing the document, Naruto snatched it back. All of them, save Tsunade, were looking at him with various degrees of murderous intent on their faces. He’d have to be more careful from now on, he realized.  
  
He rolled the scroll, then sealed it in wax. His hands were shaking. He looked to Tsunade, and she smiled briefly. “Go.”  
  
Naruto turned north toward the prison, toward Sasuke.  _Sasuke_ , he thought,  _I’m coming_.  
  
The End


End file.
